1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sheet conveying apparatus and an image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to the structure of a skew feeding correcting portion configured to correct skew feeding of a sheet.
2. Description of the Related Art
According to the related art, an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, and a facsimile machine includes an image forming portion, and a sheet conveying apparatus configured to convey a sheet to the image forming portion by a conveyance roller. In the image forming apparatus according to the related art, due to deformation of the conveyance roller, misalignment of the conveyance roller, and the like, the sheet may sometimes be skewed when the sheet is conveyed. In the image forming apparatus, the position of the sheet with respect to the image forming portion significantly affects accuracy of an image forming position with respect to the sheet, and hence accurate alignment of the position of the sheet with respect to the image forming portion is an important factor to secure image quality.
In view of the above, in the image forming apparatus according to the related art, a skew feeding correcting portion is provided to the sheet conveying apparatus, and this skew feeding correcting portion corrects the skew feeding of the sheet, to thereby enhance the accuracy of the image forming position. As the skew feeding correcting portion described above, for example, there is known a skew feeding correcting portion including a shutter biased by a spring or the like in a direction opposite to a sheet conveying direction so as to bring a leading edge of the sheet into abutment against the shutter (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H09-183539 and International Patent WO2011/048668A). In the shutter-type skew feeding correcting portion described above, the leading edge of the sheet is brought into abutment against an abutment portion of a shutter member positioned perpendicularly to the sheet conveying direction, and the leading edge of the sheet is aligned with the abutment portion, to thereby correct the skew feeding of the sheet.
By the way, in recent years, there has been a users' demand to enhance productivity of the image forming apparatus and reduce operation sound. However, in the case where the skew feeding is corrected by bringing the sheet into abutment against the shutter member as in the sheet conveying apparatus according to the related art, when the leading edge of the conveyed sheet is brought into abutment against the shutter member, collision sound is generated. The collision sound becomes louder when the sheet conveying speed increases to enhance the productivity.